Method and apparatus for intermittently dyeing yarns

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for dyeing yarn for creating a very detailed, complicated pattern of variegation. Streams of dye liquors are discharged in a specified first direction from a nozzle assembly comprising one or more dye liquor nozzles. At the same time the entire nozzle assembly is traversed by a traversing means in a second direction transverse to said first direction. The yarn is run between a supply and a takeup means in the direction of its length in a third direction across the streams of dye liquors and is traversed by a yarn traversing means transversely to the third direction and the first direction.

United States Patent 72] Inventors Ryou Miyamoto Amagasaki-shi; Kunio Hashizume, lshikawa-gun, lshilrawaken; Hiroshi Kitamura, lshikawa-gun,

Ishikawa-ken, all of Japan [21] App]. No. 871,416 [22] Filed Oct. 21, 1969 Nov. 16, 1971 Toray Industries, Inc.

[45] Patented [73] Assignees Tokyo, Japan; Maruichi Seni Kabushlki Kaisha Ishikawa-ken, Japan, part interest to each [32] Priority Sept. 22, 1965 [3 3] Japan [31 40/58293 Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 549,857, May 13, 1966, now abandoned. This application Oct. 21, 1969, Ser. No. 871,416

[54] METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INTERMI'ITENTLY DYEING YARNS 2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 8/14,

[51] Int. Cl D06p 5/00 [50] Field of Search ..8/14, 151.2; 68/205 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,428,284 9/1947 Krogel 8/151.2

3,218,654 11/1965 Yano et a1. 8/l51.2

3,335,583 8/1967 -Schutte 8/l5l.2

Primary Examiner Donald Levy Attorney--Wenderoth, Lind & Ponack ABSTRACT: A method and apparatus for dyeing yarn for creating a very detailed, complicated pattern of variegation.

Streams of dye liquors are discharged in a specified first direction from a nozzle assembly comprising one or more dye liquor nozzles. At the same time the entire nozzle assembly is traversed by a traversing means in a second direction transverse to said first direction. The yarn is run between a supply and a takeup means in the direction of its length in a third direction across the streams of dye liquors and is traversed by a yarn traversing means transversely to the third direction and the first direction.

PATENTEDNBV 1s IBYI SHEET 1 OF 2 Ryou MIYAMom Kumo HASHIZUMEI AND Hnaosm KITAMURA BYM/ INVENTORS ATTORNEYJ PATENTEBuuv 16 \sn SHEET 2 [IF 2 mu MImMaro, KUNIO HASHIZUI'IE. AND HIROSHI KIrAMuRA INVENTORS ATTORNEYS METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INTERMI'I'IENTLY DYEING YARNS This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 549,857, filed May 13, 1966 now abandoned.

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for coloring yam wherein the yarn is colored by discharging dye liquors continuously from one or a plurality of dye liquor discharging members in a direction to intersect one or a plurality of yarns, and effecting a relative motion between said yarns and dye liquor discharging members.

l-leretofore for obtaining an intermittently or mottled dyed yam, there have been used such methods as dipping the yarn in a skein or spraying the coloring material in an atomized state onto the yarn. Since these methods are carried out by manual operations, there has been difficulty in applying them to mass production operations. However, it has been impossible to obtain dyed yarn in which many colors were spaced apart suitably. Recently, however, there have been proposed novel methods such as the one disclosed in Japanese Pat. No. 443,587 (Official Patent Gazette, Publication No. 19096/64 (488) entitled: Processing Method of Mottling Yarn by Vibration. This method has however the defect that the yarn and the areas surrounding the apparatus are splattered with the dye liquors which are splashed by the vibration, since the adhesion of the dye liquor to the yarn is accomplished by vibrating the filaments. There is a further defect in this method in that the running yarn frequently breaks, because a rotating member of odd shape is used as a means for vibrating the yarn. Other shortcomings of this method are that since the rotating cycle of the rotating member is fixed, it is difficult to obtain colorings which are suitably spaced apart, that since the cycle is short, the pitch of the coloring is unstable, and that multicolored dyeings cannot be accomplished concurrently.

The present invention provides a method and apparatus which largely eliminates these shortcomings and which has made it possible to carry out the dyeing of one or a plurality of filaments with intermittent single or variegated colors. Further, the intervals at which the coloring is to be carried out can either be constant or can be varied.

The method of this invention comprises discharging a dye liquor continuously from at least one dye liquor discharging member in a direction so as to intersect at least one running yarn and effecting a relative motion between said yarn and the dye liquor discharging member; and for practicing the aforesaid method, an apparatus for coloring yarn comprises at least one dye liquor discharge nozzle disposed at a point spaced from the yarn path of at least one running yarn and adapted to jet against a dye liquor against said yarn for effecting its coloring, and means for traversing said yarn in a plane which interests the liquor jetted from said nozzle, the apparatus causing said nozzles to make traversing motions similar to those of the yarn.

The invention will be more fully understood from the following description of a specific embodiment taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it being understood that the invention is not limited to this precise method or apparatus but is to be construed broadly and restricted solely by the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

in the accompanying drawings,

FIG. 1 is a perspective schematic view illustrating a preferred form of an apparatus according to this invention;

FIG. 2 is a side view thereof; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a part of a dye liquor discharging member.

As mentioned above, in the instant invention, yarn and nozzles make traversing motions respectively but as the behavior of both is complicated, the case when only the yarn makes traversing motions will be described at first.

Referring to the drawings, yarn A to be dyed is unwound from a pirn 1 and travels over a rod 2 to change its direction of travel, and through a snail guide 3 which defines the yarn path, a yarn tensioning device 4 for correcting irregularities in the yarn tension, a porcelain guide 5 of alumina for reducing the frictional resistance, and a traversing device 6 for traversing the yarn laterally. It then runs around a pulley 7, a heater drum 8 for drying the yarn, and through a windup guide 10 and against a press roller 9 and is wound up in cake form onto a windup roll 11. interposed between the traversing device 6 and either the pulley 7 or heater 8 are one or more dye liquor discharging nozzles 12, which are mounted on a fastening rack '14 with their tips 13 pointing in such a fashion that the liquor jetted therefrom strikes the yarn A. Rack 14 is mounted on supporting members 15 by bolts 17 (FIG. 3) so as to be slidable in slots 16 in the supporting members. Nozzle 12 extends through a holding piece 18 and the holding piece is mounted on the fastening rack 14 by a bolt 19, its position being adjustable along a slot 20. Above the fastening rack 14 are provided dye liquor tanks 21 for storing the dye liquors, and these tanks are connected to the supply end of the nozzles by means of flexible pipes 22.

Dye liquor recovery receptacles 23 are provided directly below and spaced from the nozzles for receiving the dye liquors from their corresponding nozzles. The other ends of the receptacles 23 are connected .with corresponding dye liquor reservoirs 24 by means of pipes 25. Between the several dye liquor reservoirs 24 and the respective dye liquor tanks 21 are pipes 26 having gear pumps 27 therein near the reservoirs 24 and by which the dye liquors in the reservoirs are delivered to the tanks. Overflow pipes 28 are provided for returning any excess of dye liquors in the tanks 21 to reservoirs 24.

In the above described apparatus, the portion of the yarn A running between the traversing device and the pulley 7 passes between the nozzle tips 13 and the receptacles 23, and is caused to move transversely to its direction of running in a plane perpendicular to the direction in which the nozzle tip 13 points by means of the traversing device 6. Since a liquor for dyeing the yarn flows continuously from the dye liquor tanks 21 via the pipe 22 and thence from the nozzle tip 13 to the receptacle 23, the dye liquor from the nozzle strikes the yarn which traverses it to dye the yarn. Since a dyed yarn B is produced only when the yarn comes in contact with the liquor directly below the nozzle, the moving yarn has portions which are dyed and portions that are undyed. If different colored dye liquors are jetted from the plurality of nozzles and the yarn A is moved transversely of its direction of running between a plurality of jetting streams, a single length of yarn can be dyed intermittently with a plurality of colors. Further, if a plurality of yarns is run and moved transversely, a plurality of intermittently dyed yarns B can be obtained. On the other hand, when the transverse speed of the yarn is increased, short dyed portions at short intervals are produced, whereas when the transverse speed is retarded, relatively long dyed portions at longer intervals are produced. The traversing device 6 used here and the method of moving the yarn transversely can be replaced by any of those which are conventionally used.

The yarn which has been dyed by passing below the nozzles, i.e. dyed yarn B, proceeds via the pulley 7 to the heater 8 where it is dried, and then is treated by a steam setting means or a thermosol dyeing apparatus, shown schematically at 30. The guide 10 then guides the yarn as it is wound up onto the windup roll 1 l by means of a press roller 9.

The dye liquor from the dye liquor tank 21 is jetted from the nozzle 12 into the receptacle 23 at all times, the liquor not used in the dyeing being collected in the reservoir 24 via the pipe 25. The dye'liquor which has been returned to the reservoir 24 is returned to the dye liquor tank 21 via the pipe 26 by means of a conventional gear pump 27. Thus, with the liquor being continuously cycled there is no loss and hence economical use is made of the dye liquor. In addition, as the exposure of the liquor to the air takes place for only a short time when it is dyeing the yarn during its circulation, it does not become fouled. Further, the staining of those parts other than the traveling yarn does not occur.

In the hereinbefore-described method, when the running yarn is moved transversely, it contacts the dye liquor which is being continuously discharged and becomes mottled. In the method of this invention, the running yarn is making traversing motions when the dye liquor nozzles make traversing motions. The direction of traverse of nozzles is across the yam-running direction. That is, the yarn and the nozzles are caused to make traversing motions relative to each other. The apparatus whereby the nozzle make traversing motions is shown schematically at 31 In FIG. 1 of the drawing connected to the fastening rack 14 holding nozzle tips 13 and can be a traversing means similar to the means for driving the yam-traversing means 6 to traverse the yarn. In the instant invention, the object of both the traversing motions of the yarn and the nozzles is to impart to the yarn fine, dyeing modifications, and by a combination of both the traversing motions, complicated coloring effects, which could not be obtained by the conventional apparatus which has only a yarn traversing mechanism or only a nozzle traversing mechanism, can be obtained. Further, the diameter of holes at the tip of a nozzle is limited to 0.5 to 2.0 mm. This is for obtaining delicate coloring effects by narrowing dye streams.

The intermittently colored or mottled yarn is moist on account of the presence of dye liquor. Hence, it must be dried before being wound up. For this purpose, a direct heater of the drum type such as the heater 8 shown in FIG. 1 can be used, but indirect drying by such means as hot air or infrared rays is also effective.

The dried yarn is wound up on either a drum or a reel.

The object of this invention can also be achieved by utilizing the generally used cone winder or the like and adding thereto the dye liquor applying apparatus of this invention. Thus, there is the advantage that completely new machines need not be made in order to practice this invention.

The coloring agents are dyestuffs containing urea and, if need be, containing acids or salts of ammonium acetate, ammonium sulfate or ammonium tartrate.

The following examples, in which the apparatus illustrated in the accompanying drawings was used, are given for further illustrating this invention.

EXAMPLE l Nylon filament yarn ZIO deniers Yarn speed 200 m./min. Trlvening nte I reciprocationS/min. Number of dye liquor nozzles 4 First nozzle Cibalan Brilliant Blue GL 5 parts (CT-acid blue I83) Urea 2 parts Water 93 parts lOO parts Second nozzle Cibelan Black BGL 6 parts (C.l. acid black 107, Urea 3 parts Ammonium acetate 2 parts Water 89 parts I00 parts Third nozzle Suminol First yellow 0 4 parts (C.l. acid yellow 61) Urea 3 pans Water 93 parts I00 parts Fourth nozzle:

Alizarin Cyanine Green 50 4 parts (C.l. acid green 25) Urea 3 parts Water 93 parts I00 parts The yarn colored intermittently under the above conditions was wound up in skein form, and thereafter by treating with steam for 30 minutes at I05 C in a vacuum steam heat setting machine, the drying was completed A yarn colored intermittently under the above conditions was wound up in skein form, after which it was treated with steam for 30 minutes at I -l05 C. in a vacuum steam heat setting machine to complete its dyeing.

As hereinbefore described, multicolored dyeings at uniform intervals or nonuniform variegated dyeings can be obtained according to this invention. Furthermore, since it comprises disposing one or more dye liquor nozzles spaced from a running yarn in such a fashion that the axes of the nozzles intersect the plane through which the yarn travels, discharging dye liquor continuously and effecting the traversing movement of said yarn, dyeings can be obtained with great efficiency.

We claim.

1. A method of dyeing yarn for creating a very detailed, complicated pattern of variegation comprising the steps of discharging streams of dye liquors in a specified first direction from a nozzle assembly comprising a plurality of dye liquor nozzles aligned in a line and at the same time traversing the entire nozzle assembly in a second direction transverse to said first direction and in the direction of alignment of the nozzles, and running the yarn in the direction of its length in a third direction transverse to the streams of dye liquors and transverse to the direction of alignment of the nozzles, and traversing the running yarn transversely to the third direction and the first direction and in the direction of the alignment of the nozzles, whereby a complicated pattern of dyes is applied to the yarn.

2. An apparatus for dyeing yarn for creating a very detailed and complicated pattern of variegation, comprising a nozzle assembly having a plurality of dye liquor nozzles aligned in a line and directed in a first direction and means for supplying dye liquors to said nozzles for causing the nozzles to discharge streams of dye liquors in said first direction. means coupled to said nozzle assembly for traversing said nozzle assembly in a second direction and in the direction of alignment of said nozzles, a yarn supply and takeup means for drawing yarn from a package, running it, and taking it up in a third direction across the path of the dye liquor from the dye nozzles and transverse to the direction of alignment of the nozzles, and yarntraversing means engageable with the running yarn for traversing it transversely to the third direction and to the first direction and in the direction of the alignment of said noules, whereby when streams of dye liquors are discharged from said nozzles and a yarn is run and traversed, a complicated pattern 5 of dyes is applied to the yarn.

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2. An apparatus for dyeing yarn for creating a very detailed and complicated pattern of variegation, comprising a nozzle assembly having a plurality of dye liquor nozzles aligned in a line and directed in a first direction and means for supplying dye liquors to said nozzles for causing the nozzles to discharge streams of dye liquors in said first direction, means coupled to said nozzle assembly for traversing said nozzle assembly in a second direction and in the direction of alignment of said nozzles, a yarn supply and takeup means for drawing yarn from a package, running it, and taking it up in a third direction across the path of the dye liquor from the dye nozzles and transverse to the direction of alignment of the nozzles, and yarn-traversing means engageable with the running yarn for traversing it transversely to the third direction and to the first direction and in the direction of the alignment of said nozzles, whereby when streams of dye liquors are discharged from said nozzles and a yarn is run and traversed, a complicated pattern of dyes is applied to the yarn. 